And he keeps surviving against all odds in his battle against Stage 4 Melanoma.

Nick is determined to be a survival case study for other advanced melanoma fighters.

But he needs access to a trial drug to beat this disease – for Locky, Hayley, and Evan to keep their dad.

Please play your part by joining us in making sure Nick wins this battle.

“Audo” (Nick Auden) is a really top bloke and a role model of a father. He departed Singapore in 2011 with his family to Denver, Colorado – within 2-months of the move he found out he was due to be a Dad for the third time and also that he had stage 4 Melanoma.

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I would personally be very, very grateful if all of my readers take a couple of minutes to help save Locky’s Dad!

Join us in asking Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb to give Nick access to the new breakthrough PD-1 drug for melanoma.

3. Facebook: Like the page on Facebook with the message “@Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb, please #SaveLockysDad.” And share this story with others.

4. Or spread the word via email, blogging, talking to friends, and anything else you can think of!

There is a website set up especially for Nick – http://www.savelockysdad.com/(you can see a photo gallery of his beautiful family there also, as well as reading a heartfelt letter from Locky’s Mum, Amy)

Please share with family and friends to get as many electronic signatures as we can!!

What is Melanoma?

Melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer and generally occurs where the skin is sun damaged at a young age. The damage to the skin cells leads to uncontrolled cell growth in the melanocytes, the cells that contain pigments that color our hair and skin. If detected very early melanoma can be completely removed by surgery which can provide a cure. The risk however is that melanoma quickly spreads throughout the body. Typically it will spread or metastasize to organs such as the lungs, liver, bones, and brain. Once it has metastasized to distant organs melanoma is almost always terminal. In recent years several new treatments have been developed however these treatments provide life extension measured only in months. The PD-1 drugs recently developed by Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb offer, for the first time, a real chance for patients with advanced melanoma.

One of the most positive things about living in Singapore, is the extremely low crime rate… one reason, being the relatively small illegal drug trade which takes a lot of the opportunities and temptation away from our youths.

Of course (and I’ve spoken about this before), I’m not necessarily raising the subject of hard versus soft drugs, nor am I advocating the very tough penalties associated with them (up to and including the death penalty)… I just feel very comforted to know that as my kids grow up in Singapore, they will have little or no exposure to ‘hard’ drugs – a comfort that unfortunately cannot be shared in many other countries across the globe.

The CNB seized 17 grams of Ice, 74 grams of heroin and some Ecstasy pills

On Friday, just gone by, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) arrested 111 drug offenders in a five-day islandwide operation. Included among those taken into custody, were seven suspected traffickers and 104 suspected drug abusers.

The CNB also seized 17 grams of ‘Ice’, 74 grams of heroin and some Ecstasy pills as a result of the operation. The scope of the activities covered both public and private residential areas, along with industrial estates in Woodlands, Sengkang, Tiong Bahru, Clementi and Jurong.

So, all kudos to the men and women of the Central Narcotics Bureau!

Having said that, I am still waiting for the authorities to take a stance on the other ‘legal’ drug, which has been proven to be one of the most addictive, harmful and damaging (to individuals and those around them) available today! Of course, I am talking about alcohol.

Now, don’t get me wrong… I am no prude and I enjoy a beer or glass of wine as much as the next guy. But for a country where drug use and abuse brings about such severe penalties and other breaches of the law are strictly and swiftly dealt with, I am often amazed at how alcohol can be purchased at any 7-11 store, local and large chain supermarkets and any food-court beverage shop. The follow-on effect of this ease of availability, which has shown to be the case in many other geographies, is the onset of drinking in public places and under-age drinking.

This problem I have personally witnessed on numerous occassions – just take a walk around the back of Admiralty shopping centre (near the MRT) on any evening, and check out the many very young boys openly drinking and ‘yahooing’ – while young families (and sometimes small children on their own) are walking by…

Given the widely publicized facts that alcohol is the number one abused drug in the world, and is the cause of the largest number of drug-associated violent crimes in many countries (not to mention the high rate of association with road deaths due to drink-driving), it’s about time that the authorities in Singapore thought about a blitz on public intoxication and the under-age drinking that is prevalant… they could start with an overhaul of the sale of alcoholic beverages, making it available only at licensed premises or bottle shops.

On another note, the statistics for the first half of this year, show that between January and June, 1,741 drug abusers were arrested (of which 641 were new abusers), compared to 1,456 drug abusers (including 672 new abusers) arrested in the first half of 2010… I’m wondering if this shows an improvement by law enforcement, or an increase in drug activity?

Our Hong Kong Travel Blog

In collaboration with omy.sg, the Hong Kong Tourism Board sent ten
bloggers from the Singapore Blog Awards 2010 to Hong Kong to experience the Hong
Kong Dragonboat Carnival, part of the Hong Kong Summer Spectacular Program.

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